Last batch of chicks for the year… I mean it.

A few weeks ago Dave and I were out and about running errands. Picking up some chicken feed, light bulbs, chainsaw blades, torque drivers, valve wrenches… left phalange coupling… cordless… steel… drums… stuff. Oh, and free popcorn. Anyway, we just happened to go down the ‘farming’ aisle where they just happened to have some baby chicks and I just happened to look at them. And what happened to be there was a tub full of week old salmon faverolles! We had just moved the last batch of chicks out of our house and into their respective new big chicken coop. I was kinda looking forward to a living room without chicks but these were salmon faverolles! They were right there! How could I pass those up!? But I told myself (and everyone else) that we were done with chicks for the year. Done. D-O-N-E. Needless to say, we ended up walking out with all 13 of them. Fellow chicken people may understand the excitement of surprise salmon faverolles. But for those of you that are like “Cool. Tiny yellow chickens that are mega cute. What’s the big deal?” Well, I’ll tell you what the big deal is, buddy!

Faverolles originated in France in the late 1800’s and were imported into America around 1902. They’re a medium sized breed with beards, feathered legs and an extra fifth toe.Â They were bred to be a dual purpose breed; hardy layers as well as a good table bird. Their round, fluffy bodies were made to withstand the cold winters of Paris and continually lay throughout the winter. But they were bred to be large enough for meat production at market. In the early 1900’s they were considered one of the best French breeds. They lay medium sized tinted eggs and are inclined to go broody. Faverolles also have a very sweet and friendly temperament. You can sex them when they’re about 2-3 weeks years old. The pullets (females) will stay a creamy/salmony/oatmeally color, while the boys (cockrels) will start to show black in their breast feathers and wings.

Our salmon faverolles will live in the misfit coop, aka the red coop, aka the first coop. So here’s a look at the faverolles’ first five weeks at Such and Such Farm!

Bringing the baby faverolles home!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By0Z9PFuptA&w=420&h=315]

Faverolles at 3(ish) weeks oldThe faverolles on their first outing!They’re a tight bunch and don’t stray too far from each other and (thankfully) me.

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Little faverolles in their new outside coop! They’ll live in the camper shell coop until they’re big enough to run with the adult chickens. This little lady is about 5 weeks old.

Here’s a couple videos of them in their new coop. See if you can spot the little roo!